Need a new PC for home use, its a tool too.

[SARG]

We've usually bought Dell ............. BUT be careful as all the stuff you see on "sale" cannot be upgraded to the newer versions i.e. windows 10 to 11.
They do the same thing with Android phones ....... they become obsolete because they are "not compatible" with newer applications.
Many tricks to get you to keep spending.

 

[wp6529]

I use a TV for a monitor. I hate Laptops.

I would really suggest you consider a laptop and a dock for your next machine, particularly now that docks are just a USB-C/Thunderbolt connection providing a one-cable connection for dock/power. For any normal usage there is no performance penalty from using a laptop vs. a desktop.

My work setup on my desk is a laptop (currently HP, but also have had Dell) with a Thunderbolt dock providing hardwired network connection, USB for keyboard, mouse, macro keyboard, Yubikey and printer and displayport connections to two 26" 4K monitors. I use both large monitors as well as the laptop display, type on a full sized keyboard and use a proper mouse 99% of the time, but I can also unplug from the dock and go WiFi portable if needed.

 

[JWA]

You sound like me but son told me I would like a small Chromebook, and I love it. On my second one in ten years. I just buy the cheapest 11" at Best Buy and delete browsing data once a week. This one is Acer. I set zoom at 200%. 150% for U-tube. I watch a lot of U-tube video's, we don't have TV. I like it because I can use it in my recliner, or anywhere, not just at a desk. Run it off wife's cell phone for Internet, works great anywhere. Loved it in the motor home....James

X2 on the Chromebook.

 

[stdsch40]

Fixed that for you... Linux is definitely not the best OS by the wildest stretch of the imagination. It is better than Windoze for sure in a lot of ways and the GUI options have certainly improved in recent years to the point that an average barely computer literate person can drive it.

Linux is still clunky and obtuse in many ways, documentation and those "useful free programs" are highly variable in quality and consistency, and in some areas, particularly CAD there are not any really good options available. There are a few "CAD" options that I have tried, but they all had significant issues compared to the TurboCAD I use on a Windoze system and TurboCAD isn't top of the line either. I also note that a great many of those "useful free programs" are available cross-platform for Linux, Windoze and scrApple.

Ultimately I have no loyalty to any OS and in the desktop/laptop space both Windoze and Linux leave a lot to be desired. I manage large numbers of Linux (RHEL) servers daily, use Centos on my personal servers (for consistency and to avoid the silly Linux distro clique nonsense) and all my desktop / laptops are Windoze. They are tools, nothing more and getting what I need to do done is the requirement, not making any sort of "statement" or "virtue signaling".

Thanks for the correction. And yes you are correct about some of those free programs, 'FreeCad' is kinda doggy, and LibreCad is a bit clunky, just like some old tractors. Nevertheless, I've been running Unbuntu 18 on a SBC for years without issue, unlike windows. I like it because it works as a tool should, does the job. Only thing I use window for is running Netflix on an old Lenovo.

 

[kencombs]

Thanks for the correction. And yes you are correct about some of those free programs, 'FreeCad' is kinda doggy, and LibreCad is a bit clunky, just like some old tractors. Nevertheless, I've been running Unbuntu 18 on a SBC for years without issue, unlike windows. I like it because it works as a tool should, does the job. Only thing I use window for is running Netflix on an old Lenovo.

I was last on a hot rod forum and for a second when reading you post, I wondered how one runs an OS on a Small Block Chevy. Abbreviations and acronyms really confuse some of us.

 

[redtom]

Still running Win7 on this old Thinkpad T420, no reason to "upgrade", don't need "support". I do have many other machines running Linux or a couple W10, all do their jobs without issues. Desktops / servers are nice for applications where you will add a bunch of storage i.e. security DVR or NAS, but these days I recommend a good used / refurb laptop and a docking station as a better option for general use. Dock for desk use with a bigger keyboard, mouse and monitor and undock when you want to surf from the hammock. I recommend refurb Thinkpads, I get them for $250 or less and they work great. Many I get look like new old stock without a scratch on them. I have I think six currently along with a few desktop and a couple rack servers.

Don't really understand all you're recommending, it's over my head. But I can tell you my tax man needs me to log in and give him some docs but my PC can't because it's 7 and needs 10 and can't upgrade to 10.

 

[DoubleO7]

refurb laptop and a docking station

What does a docking station do for you?

Nevermind, you explained it in your post #22

P.S. I managed to break the screen on my laptop by squeezing it to hard with my thumb when picking it up when open.
Local repair places wanted $150 to $200 to replace screen.
I found a slightly larger thin monitor that it is now velcro'ed onto the old screen for $54
A bit bigger than the laptop screen.

 

[Eman85]

I gave up on desktop PC's a while back. I have a couple of HP Streams that work good and I keep 1 in the shop for when I need info down there. I have a wifi amplifier so I get signal at my shop. Much easier to use the chromebook than to look at the little phone screen.

 

[stdsch40]

I was last on a hot rod forum and for a second when reading you post, I wondered how one runs an OS on a Small Block Chevy. Abbreviations and acronyms really confuse some of us.

How about POS? Everytime I see that I think piece of sh!t not point of sale, or is it short for positive? Back in the old days when marking drawings for correction we used acronyms like: NFW, NFG, those were pretty clear. But SBC could mean small block chevy or single board computer your choice.

 

[Watthour]

May want to Google

windows 10 end of support

before you buy.

I view that as yet another veiled threat from MS. After starting with GWBasic, and through several iterations of DOS, I skipped Windows 3.1 and went to 95. Once that hit its limits I used 98SE because it was so much more configurable, and had actual support for almost a decade. Bypassing what appeared to be their subsequent marketing campaigns called ME and 2000, and having little need for NT besides what came in machine tools, I waited for XP to get debugged into the Pro version, and used that for over a decade. The next "sky is falling" marketing programs from MS called CE, Win 7, Win 8 (which lived about a month) and the never widely released past beta Win 9, I waited for 10 to get debugged and established. I'm still using that, like 85% of the world. I expect that 11 is going the way of Windows 2000 with about the same speed as the iPhone 13 nose-dived. Speaking of that, I had one iMAC and one MAC box interspersed through that timeline, and tried LINUX for a while, but had too many other things in life to do besides chasing/writing drivers for every new piece of hardware that came to market.

In short, I expect 10 to cling to life as long or longer than XP did, despite the marketing pleadings of MS.

 

[Dober_paw]

I've had good experience buying refurbished - direct from Dell or some other reputable provider. Price is good and unlike 'new' PC it isn't loaded with 'extra' programs that somebody thinks you need, will like, will buy etc., I love my laptop but each to their own - maybe OP has some reason to be constrained to a desktop - they like their comfy desk chair or xtra big screen monitor? I've no experience w/ chromebooks but understand they could be a good match to OP's basic mail & browse needs. A docking station could give the best of both worlds?

 

[Watthour]

I gave up on desktop PC's a while back. I have a couple of HP Streams that work good and I keep 1 in the shop for when I need info down there. I have a wifi amplifier so I get signal at my shop. Much easier to use the chromebook than to look at the little phone screen.

I thought I had done that also. After numerous failed laptops, replacing displays, failed fans and plugged heat sinks, dead keyboards, dead track pads and track points, proprietary drivers and expansions, limited batteries, lack of redundant drives, I found I had reached the limitations of portables. I still have my original ThinkPad running Windows 3.1, and it STILL boots and runs - A testament to IBM/Lenovo build quality. OTOH, most of my Acer, HP, and Dell pieces didn't fare so well...

 

[Fred Werring]

tried LINUX for a while, but had too many other things in life to do besides chasing/writing drivers for every new piece of hardware that came to market.

Right there, my biggest issue with Linux.

Like it or not, EVERYTHING has a driver that works with Windows

 

[will-max dairy]

Right there, my biggest issue with Linux.

Like it or not, EVERYTHING has a driver that works with Windows

That's also why I say Linux feels like an "old" operating system.

Early adopters and techies are frustrated by this lack of drivers for the latest and greatest peripherals.

Someone who barely uses their computer; and probably has had the same printer since 2006?...Linux has a driver for that printer...

I don't think Linux is the best, or the most modern, or the most up to date.

I think it is the most self sufficient and flexible for people that don't want to get forced into a hardware update, or depend on "IT guys" for a restore.

At work, where there are something like three "IT guys" managing the software for a team of ten... they can deal with all of Windows' intrigues and nuances.

(As it is, just this morning... even with three IT guys managing our stuff... Windows put out an update last night... I came into work to log into Microsoft Teams, for an introduction meeting with a prospective new client... and my desktop didn't recognize my security credentials...it took an hour for our IT guys to back the last update out of our system...so that we (the non-IT guys) can log in and, you know... actually work... they'll have to try to reconfigure the update and push it through over the weekend... for some reason, this has never happened with my Linux machine at home...)

At home, my plan for a computer going bad is...any file that I care about is on a thumbdrive somewhere. Linux... is also on a thumbdrive.

If I needed to lobotomize my computer to put in a new hard drive... or if it got some virus that was absolutely unrecoverable...or if the processor card went belly up... I can "restore" by...

Fixing whatever hardware needs to be fixed...
Format C:

Then reload Linux from the thumbdrive.

Done...

My backup plan for hardware without a Linux driver... (say... printer)... is... buy a printer with a Linux driver. What'll it cost? 50 bux? I can't write a driver for that. It's also less than the cost of an hour of downtime, due to some Windows update... that really doesn't matter anyway... being buggy...

 

[olddavid]

Going from Windows 7 to 11 might be a shock for someone as old as I am. I liked Windows 7. The last upgrade on 11 took away "Wordpad" which I used for documents. Fortunately, I had downloaded an old version of "Word" before that happened. It's there if I need it but I find I can do most of what I want with "Notepad".

 

[will-max dairy]

Going from Windows 7 to 11 might be a shock for someone as old as I am. I liked Windows 7. The last upgrade on 11 took away "Wordpad" which I used for documents. Fortunately, I had downloaded an old version of "Word" before that happened. It's there if I need it but I find I can do most of what I want with "Notepad".

Give yourself some grace.

Windows is fiddling around with so many things, even everyday users are getting bamboozled.

Right now, on my work desktop... I can open a shared file three different ways from Microsoft Teams. If that file is an Excel spreadsheet... Excel behaves three different ways and has three different menu structures and has three different sets of available features...depending on the way that I open the file.

Update and change, for the sake of update and change...

At work, I'm paid by the hour to deal with it.

Not so at home. That's MY time...and I'm giving as little as possible to computer maintenance.

 

[olddavid]

Give yourself some grace.

Thanks Will. Right now I'm trying to figure out how I triggered a tiny, tiny font on this forum. Another forum is ok. Edit: Looks like I accidentally hit a key powered "zoom" function for the browser. Back to normal, now.

 

[zuhnc]

Most every IoT device runs embedded Linux in some form. I have read that Microsoft uses Linux on some of its servers.

Windows and MS is so pervasive because MS basically browbeat IBM and a couple of other vendors into installing it on their products. Had MS not done so, Windows would not have the popularity (?) it does.

I can update my Linux box in 10 minutes; a Windows computer that runs my NVR takes upwards of an hour or more to update. And, I have no video recording being done while Windows updates itself; Linux is done on the fly, no shutting down or "please wait"!

I use Windows on one machine only because the NVR program runs only on Windows; everything else is Linux.

Modern Linux distros nave 95% of the drivers needed for modern peripherals.

 

[stdsch40]

Most every IoT device runs embedded Linux in some form. I have read that Microsoft uses Linux on some of its servers.

Windows and MS is so pervasive because MS basically browbeat IBM and a couple of other vendors into installing it on their products. Had MS not done so, Windows would not have the popularity (?) it does.

I can update my Linux box in 10 minutes; a Windows computer that runs my NVR takes upwards of an hour or more to update. And, I have no video recording being done while Windows updates itself; Linux is done on the fly, no shutting down or "please wait"!

I use Windows on one machine only because the NVR program runs only on Windows; everything else is Linux.

Modern Linux distros nave 95% of the drivers needed for modern peripherals.

Someone who knows what they are talking about, very refreshing thank you Zuhnc. It doesn't even matter, you are throwing pearls ...
The OP wants what he is comfortable with and nothing can change his course. All the others will help him along the way. Its a pandora's box, all that is left is hope.

 

[will-max dairy]

Someone who knows what they are talking about, very refreshing thank you Zuhnc. It doesn't even matter, you are throwing pearls ...
The OP wants what he is comfortable with and nothing can change his course. All the others will help him along the way. Its a pandora's box, all that is left is hope.

But... if you go the big box store route, and are comfortable with the Geek Squad... Microsoft and Windows is what they sell, and as long as the support is good? It's a perfectly fine way to go. To use Linux does require a little bit of a leap of faith; because you can't rely on the geek squad from your local box store. So, while I like linux for... the laptop that I'm typing on right now... I do recognize that it took a leap of faith to get there, and I don't really have a fixed support mechanism.